JP2012222504A - Information processing device and method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reproduce contents same as or similar to deleted contents.SOLUTION: A recording and reproduction control part records contents in a prescribed recording medium, and reads and reproduces the contents from the prescribed recording medium. When deleting contents of a deletion object recorded in the prescribed recording medium, the recording and reproduction control part transmits information required for reproducing deleted contents to another information processing device to be recorded, and when reproduction of the deleted contents is instructed, combines and reproduces the deleted contents on the basis of the information from another information processing device. This technique is applicable to a recording and reproducing device connected to a network.

Description

  The present technology relates to an information processing device and method, and a program, and more particularly, to an information processing device and method, and a program capable of reproducing content that is the same as or similar to deleted content.

  In recent years, recording / reproducing apparatuses capable of recording content such as television broadcast programs have become widespread. These recording / reproducing apparatuses can record an enormous number of contents on a recording medium. However, since the recording capacity of the recording medium is limited, a technique for deleting a predetermined content from the contents recorded on the recording medium is used as a general technique for securing the free capacity of the recording medium. (See Patent Document 1).

JP-A-11-176096

  However, content deleted to ensure free space on the recording medium cannot be reproduced thereafter. Further, the content deleted by the user's operation cannot be reproduced thereafter.

  The present technology has been made in view of such a situation, and can reproduce content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content.

  An information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present technology includes a recording / playback control unit that records content on a predetermined recording medium, reads the content from the predetermined recording medium, and plays back the content, and the recording / playback control unit includes: When deleting content to be deleted recorded on a predetermined recording medium, information necessary for reproducing the deleted content is transmitted to another information processing apparatus for recording, and the deleted content is reproduced. When instructed, the content deleted based on the information from the other information processing apparatus is synthesized and reproduced.

  The recording / playback control unit performs a compression encoding process on the content to be deleted, transmits the compression encoded content obtained as a result to the other information processing apparatus, records the deleted content, and plays back the deleted content Is instructed, the content to be deleted recorded in the other information processing apparatus in the form of compression-encoded content can be read out, decompressed and decoded and reproduced.

  The content to be deleted further includes a climax characteristic calculation unit that calculates a climax characteristic value indicating a degree of climax of the content in time series, and the recording / playback control unit includes the content to be deleted The compression encoding process can be performed only for a section in which the value of the climax characteristic calculated by the climax characteristic calculator is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold.

  A search unit that searches for a content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content from a plurality of content recorded in the other information processing apparatus; Metadata whose contents can be identified is recorded on the predetermined recording medium, and the search unit is configured to perform the other information processing apparatus based on the metadata recorded on the predetermined recording medium by the recording / playback control unit. The content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content is searched from among the plurality of content recorded in the content, and the recording / playback control unit searches for content that is the same as or similar to the content searched by the search unit. It can be read out from the other information processing apparatus and reproduced.

The metadata is a feature amount for each of a plurality of scenes included in the content,
For each of the plurality of contents recorded in the other information processing apparatus, the search unit includes a scene having a feature quantity that is the same as or similar to the feature quantity for each of the plurality of scenes included in the deleted content. Can be searched from the scenes included in.

  The search unit can set a similar range for the feature amount for each of a plurality of scenes included in the deleted content according to a preset allowable similarity.

  The search unit may further include a display control unit that displays a warning for the scene searched for by the search unit after the allowable similarity is lowered by the search unit.

  The recording / playback control unit transmits metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted to the other information processing apparatus, and the same or similar content as the selected content from the other information processing apparatus When the detection result indicating that there is another information processing apparatus having the content and the detection result indicating that there is the other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the selected content is received, The detection result is that the metadata is recorded on the predetermined recording medium, the content to be deleted is deleted, and there is no further information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the selected content. When received, the metadata is recorded on the predetermined recording medium and the content to be deleted is recorded. When performing compression encoding processing, transmitting the compression encoded data obtained as a result to the other information processing apparatus, deleting the content to be deleted, and instructing the reproduction of the deleted content, The metadata is transmitted to the other information processing apparatus, and when the compressed encoded data is transmitted by the other information processing apparatus, the compressed encoded data is received and deleted by the information processing apparatus. When content that is the same as or similar to the content that has been read is read from the further information processing apparatus and transmitted, the content can be received.

  The metadata may be a feature amount of the content to be deleted.

  The recording / playback control unit determines a predetermined criterion when the data capacity of the new content instructed to be recorded on the predetermined recording medium is larger than a predetermined amount based on the free capacity of the predetermined recording medium. The content to be satisfied can be selected as the content to be deleted.

  The predetermined determination criterion may be a criterion that the access frequency by the user is low.

  The predetermined determination criterion may be a criterion that the user's operation content on the input device is an instruction to delete the predetermined content.

  The information processing method and program according to the first aspect of the present technology are a method and program corresponding to the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present technology described above.

  In the information processing apparatus, method, and program according to the first aspect of the present technology, content is recorded on a predetermined recording medium, the content is read from the predetermined recording medium, reproduced, and recorded on the predetermined recording medium. When the deleted content to be deleted is deleted, information necessary for reproducing the deleted content is transmitted to and recorded on another information processing apparatus, and the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed. In this case, the content deleted based on the information from the other information processing apparatus is synthesized and reproduced.

  The information processing device according to the second aspect of the present technology provides the content to be deleted received from the first other information processing device when the first other information processing device deletes the content to be deleted. Based on the metadata that can identify the contents of the second information processing apparatus, it is detected whether there is a second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the content to be deleted, and the second other information processing apparatus If there is, the information of the second other information processing device and the metadata of the content that is the same as or similar to the content to be deleted are recorded, and the detection result that the second other information processing device is present is When the second other information processing apparatus is not transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus, the first other information processing apparatus reports the detection result that there is no second other information processing apparatus. Send to A metadata management unit that receives compressed encoded data obtained by performing compression encoding processing on the content to be deleted from the first other information processing apparatus and records it on a recording medium, and the first In another information processing apparatus, when the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the compressed encoded data is recorded from the recording medium based on the metadata received again from the first other information processing apparatus. If there is the compressed encoded data, the compressed encoded data is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus, and if there is no compressed encoded data, it is the same as the deleted content or A search unit for searching for the second other information processing apparatus having similar content.

  When the second other information processing device having the same or similar content as the deleted content is searched by the search unit, the second other information processing device is identical to the content or Inquiries as to whether or not similar content can be distributed to the first other information processing apparatus, and when the distribution result inquiry result is received from the second other information processing apparatus, the second other information processing apparatus The information processing apparatus may further include a content management unit that reads content that is the same as or similar to the content deleted from the information processing device and transmits the content to the first other information processing device.

  The information processing method and program according to the second aspect of the present technology are a method and program corresponding to the information processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present technology described above.

  In the information processing apparatus, method, and program according to the second aspect of the present technology, when the content to be deleted is deleted in the first other information processing apparatus, the information is received from the first other information processing apparatus. Based on the metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted, it is detected whether there is a second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the content to be deleted, and the second When there is another information processing apparatus, information on the second other information processing apparatus and metadata of the content that is the same as or similar to the content to be deleted are recorded, and the second other information processing apparatus When the detection result that there is is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus and there is no second other information processing apparatus, the second other information processing apparatus is not present An output result is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus, and compressed encoded data obtained by performing compression encoding processing on the content to be deleted is received from the first other information processing apparatus. And the metadata received again from the first other information processing apparatus when the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed in the first other information processing apparatus. The compressed encoded data is retrieved from the recording medium, and if there is the compressed encoded data, the compressed encoded data is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus, and the compressed encoded data If there is no data, the second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the deleted content is searched.

  As described above, according to the present technology, content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content can be reproduced.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the content management system with which 1st Embodiment is applied. It is a figure explaining the archive process using a climax characteristic. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the recording / reproducing system for users. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a server. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structural example of a system controller. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of the archive process based on a climax characteristic. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a content reproduction process. It is a figure which shows the structure of the content management system with which 2nd Embodiment is applied. It is a figure explaining reproduction | regeneration of a content. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structural example of a system controller. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a content deletion process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a content reproduction process. It is a figure which shows the structure of the content management system with which 3rd Embodiment is applied. It is a figure explaining reproduction | regeneration of a content. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structural example of a management part. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a content deletion process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of the content management process at the time of deletion. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a content reproduction process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of the content management process at the time of reproduction | regeneration.

As embodiments of the present technology, three embodiments (hereinafter referred to as first to third embodiments, respectively) will be described in the following order.
1. First embodiment (example of applying archive processing to content)
2. Second Embodiment (Example in which only metadata is recorded and content data is deleted)
3. Third Embodiment (an example in which similar contents are searched from contents recorded in another user recording / playback system)

  Here, the contents are movies, music, plays, literary works, photographs, comics, animations, computer games and other characters, figures, colors, voices, actions or videos, or a combination thereof, or information related thereto. A program (provided by a command to an electronic computer, which is combined so that one result can be obtained). However, in this embodiment, it is assumed that a video (moving image) is adopted as the content. In the present embodiment, since the content is recorded on a recording medium, it takes the form of data that can be recorded on the recording medium.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present technology will be described with reference to the drawings.

<1. First Embodiment>
[Configuration example of content management system]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a content management system to which the first embodiment of the present technology is applied.

  The content management system 1 in FIG. 1 includes a user recording / playback system 11 and a server 12 connected to each other via the Internet 21. The user recording / reproducing system 11 includes a recording / reproducing apparatus 31 and a display 32.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus 31 can record content on a recording medium, read the content from the recording medium, and reproduce the content. However, since the recording capacity of the recording medium is finite, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 has sufficient free capacity of the recording medium with respect to the data capacity of the new content before recording the new content on the recording medium. Determine if there is.

  If the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 determines that there is not enough free space on the recording medium when recording new content, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 executes archive processing. That is, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 executes the archiving process when the data capacity of the new content instructed to be recorded on the recording medium is larger than a predetermined amount based on the free capacity of the recording medium.

  Archive processing refers to the following series of processing. That is, the apparatus (recording / reproducing apparatus 31 in the present embodiment) has one or more contents (hereinafter referred to as recorded contents) recorded in a predetermined recording medium (in this embodiment, the recording medium of the recording / reproducing apparatus 31). Content satisfying a predetermined criterion is selected as the content to be archived. The apparatus performs a predetermined compression encoding process on the content to be archived. Hereinafter, content that has been compression-encoded is referred to as compression-encoded content. The apparatus records the compression-encoded content on a recording medium different from the predetermined recording medium (in this embodiment, the recording medium of the server 12). Such a series of processes is an archive process, and the content subjected to the archive process is deleted from the predetermined recording medium.

  Here, the predetermined determination criterion for selecting the archiving target is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a criterion that the elapsed time since recording on a predetermined recording medium is the longest. In Japan, the standard that the access frequency by the user is low is adopted. In other words, in the present embodiment, the recording / playback apparatus 31 stores content that is less frequently accessed by the user (for example, the lowest or lower than a predetermined reference value), for example, the content 41 among the one or more recorded content. Select as content to be archived. The recording / reproducing apparatus 31 performs a predetermined compression encoding process on the content 41 to be archived, and records the compression encoded content 41 obtained as a result on a recording medium of the server 12 different from the predetermined recording medium. .

  Furthermore, the number of predetermined determination criteria for selecting an archive target is not particularly limited, and is two in the present embodiment. That is, in the present embodiment, not only the above-described determination criterion that the access frequency is low, but also the determination criterion that the operation content on the user's input device (that is, a remote controller or the like) is an instruction to delete predetermined content. Is adopted.

  For example, it is assumed that the user operates the input device and issues an instruction to delete the content 41 in a state where the content 41 does not satisfy the determination criterion that the access frequency is low. In this case, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 performs an archiving process on the content 41, and records the content 41 on a recording medium of the server 12, which is another recording medium, in the form of compressed and encoded data. Thus, even when the user deletes the content 41 by mistake, the content 41 is archived and recorded on the recording medium of the server 12.

  The server 12 receives the compression-encoded content 41 from the recording / playback apparatus 31 and records it. As a result, the content 41 is in an archived state (hereinafter referred to as an archive state).

  When reproducing the archived content 41, the recording / reproducing device 31 receives the compression-encoded content 41 from the server 12, decompresses and reproduces it, and displays it on the display 32.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus 31 may target the entire section of the content 41 or a part of the section when archiving the content 41. For example, when the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 performs an archiving process on a partial section of the content 41, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 performs the archiving process according to the degree of swell of the content 41. That is, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 performs the archiving process only on the section where the content 41 is determined not to be active, and the section determined to be active is recorded in the recording / reproducing apparatus 31. To.

  An example in which the archiving process is performed in accordance with the degree of swell of the content 41 will be described with reference to FIG.

[Archive processing using climax characteristics]
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining archive processing using the climax characteristic.

  The climax characteristic is a time transition of a value indicating the degree of climax of the content, and the higher the value, the higher the climax. The degree of climax is an estimated amount of the degree that a large number of viewers feel that the climax is high. The climax characteristic is a value calculated according to a change in the image feature amount of the content and a change in the audio feature amount.

  The graph shown at the top of FIG. 2 is a graph showing the climax characteristic of the content 41 to be archived. The vertical axis of the graph indicates the instantaneous value of the climax characteristic, and the horizontal axis indicates time. In addition, a predetermined threshold L is set in advance for the climax characteristic.

  The second diagram from the top in FIG. 2 shows the content 41 to be archived. The content 41 includes scenes 41-1 to 41-M (M is an integer value of 2 or more). A scene is a video of a predetermined section divided from content, and one content is composed of a collection of a plurality of scenes. Each of the scenes 41-1 to 41-M is continuously reproduced in that order. In FIG. 2, M = 8 or more, and only the scenes 41-1 to 41-8 among the scenes 41-1 to 41-M are shown.

  As shown in the second diagram from the top, the section R1 of the content 41 including the scenes 41-1 and 41-2 is the target of archive processing because the value of the climax characteristic is equal to or less than the threshold value L. Specifically, the section R1 of the content 41 including the scenes 41-1 and 41-2 is subjected to a predetermined compression encoding process to become compression encoded data 51-1. Then, the compression encoded data 51-1 is transmitted to the server 12 via the Internet 21, and is recorded on the recording medium of the server 12 to be in an archive state. As a result, the scenes 41-1 and 41-2 are deleted from the recording medium of the recording / reproducing apparatus 31.

  Similarly, the section R2 of the content 41 including the scenes 41-3 and 41-4 is the target of the archive process because the value of the climax characteristic is equal to or less than the threshold value L. Specifically, the section R2 of the content 41 including the scenes 41-3 and 41-4 is subjected to a predetermined compression encoding process to become compression encoded data 51-2. Then, the compressed encoded data 51-2 is transmitted to the server 12 via the Internet 21, and is recorded on the recording medium of the server 12 to be in an archive state. As a result, the scenes 41-3 and 41-4 are deleted from the recording medium of the recording / reproducing apparatus 31.

  On the other hand, the section R3 of the content 41 including the scenes 41-5 and 41-6 is not the target of the archive process because the value of the climax characteristic is larger than the threshold value. Accordingly, the section R3 of the content 41 including the scenes 41-5 and 41-6 remains recorded on the recording medium of the recording / reproducing device 31.

  The section R4 of the content 41 including the scenes 41-7 and 41-8 is the target of the archive process because the value of the climax characteristic is equal to or less than the threshold value L. Specifically, the section R4 of the content 41 including the scenes 41-7 and 41-8 is subjected to a predetermined compression encoding process to become compression encoded data 51-3. The compressed encoded data 51-3 is transmitted to the server 12 via the Internet, and is recorded on the recording medium of the server 12 to be in an archive state. As a result, the scenes 41-7 and 41-8 are deleted from the recording medium of the recording / reproducing apparatus 31.

  As described above, if the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 determines that the free capacity of the recording medium is not sufficient with respect to the data capacity of the new content before recording the new content on the recording medium, the content to be archived The R1, R2, and R4, which are a part of 41, are archived and deleted from the recording medium. Therefore, the recording medium of the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 has a free space for the data in the sections R1, R2, and R4 of the content 41 to be archived.

  Further, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 performs an archiving process to secure the free space before the free space of the recording medium is exhausted by an autonomous determination without any user's explicit operation. As a result, the free space necessary for recording new content is secured on the recording medium, so that the user can record the desired content on the recording medium without being aware of whether there is free space. Can be instructed.

  When instructed to reproduce the content 41 in the archive state, the recording / reproducing device 31 receives the compression-encoded data 51-1 to 51-3 from the server 12 and records them on the recording medium. The recording / reproducing device 31 decompresses and decodes the compressed encoded data 51-1 to 51-3 to form scenes 41-1 to 41-4, 41-7, and 41-8, which are recorded in the recording / reproducing device 31. The contents including the existing scenes 41-5 and 41-6 are synthesized and reproduced and displayed on the display 32.

  As described above, as a result of the archiving process performed on the content 41, the user can view the content 41 that has actually been deleted from the recording / playback apparatus 31. That is, the user can view the content 41 even when the content 41 is deleted by mistake.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus 31 displays that the content 41 is in an archive state when an instruction to reproduce the content 41 that has been subjected to the archiving process is given. Then, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 displays a display in which an instruction to reproduce all the sections of the content 41 or only a climax section can be selected.

  When playback of the entire section of the content 41 is instructed, the recording / playback apparatus 31 receives the compressed encoded data 51-1 to 51-3 from the server 12 and decompresses and decodes them as described above, and the recording / playback apparatus 31 The contents including the scenes 41-5 and 41-6 recorded in the above are synthesized and reproduced.

  On the other hand, when the reproduction of only the rising section of the content 41 is instructed, the recording / reproducing apparatus 31 reads and reproduces the scenes 41-5 and 41-6 recorded on the recording medium. Therefore, when an instruction to reproduce only the climax section of the content 41 is given, a processing time until the reproduction is shortened compared to a case where an instruction to reproduce the entire section of the content 41 is given.

[Configuration example of recording / playback system for users]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the user recording / playback system 11 in the content management system 1 of FIG.

  The user recording / playback system 11 is controlled by a network I / F unit 61, a tuner 62, a recording processing unit 64, an image / audio feature extraction unit 65, an operation unit 66, an I / F unit 67, a memory 68, and a disk drive 69. The buses 77 are connected to each other. The user recording / reproducing system 11 is configured by connecting a recording medium 71, a reproduction control unit 72, a reproduction processing unit 73, a display processing unit 74, and a system controller 75 to each other via a control bus 77. The display 32 is connected to the display processing unit 74. Data of each component of the user recording / reproducing system 11 is transmitted / received via the data bus 76.

  The user recording / reproducing system 11 is connected to the Internet 21 via a network I / F unit 61. That is, the content transmitted from the server 12 is received by the network I / F unit 61 from the Internet 21 and supplied to the recording processing unit 64.

  The tuner 62 receives the radio wave of the compression encoded content transmitted from the server 12 by the antenna 63. The tuner 62 demodulates the received radio wave, performs various processes on the content that has become the video signal as a result, and supplies it to the recording processing unit 64.

  Further, the tuner 62 receives a broadcast signal corresponding to the broadcast wave of the selected broadcast station among the plurality of broadcast stations by the antenna 63, performs various processes on the broadcast signal, and supplies it to the recording processing unit 64. To do. Note that the broadcast signal may include EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information of a television broadcast program scheduled or being broadcast.

  The recording processing unit 64 converts the video signal or the like of the content received by the tuner 62 into a form suitable for recording on the recording medium 71, for example, a form of compressed encoded data conforming to a predetermined compression encoding method. And recording on the recording medium 71.

  The image / audio feature extraction unit 65 extracts an image feature amount and an audio feature amount (hereinafter referred to as a feature amount) for each content or for each scene included in the content, and supplies the extracted image feature amount and audio feature amount to the system controller 75. Note that the feature amount is used to calculate a climax characteristic representing the degree of climax of the content.

  The operation unit 66 includes a remote controller having buttons and a dial, and receives a predetermined operation by the user. The user can instruct reproduction, recording, etc. of the content by operating the operation unit 66.

  The I / F unit 67 supplies an operation signal based on a predetermined operation received by the operation unit 66 to the system controller 75.

  The memory 68 is configured by a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and appropriately stores data necessary for the system controller 75 to execute various processes.

  A removable medium 70 composed of a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like is appropriately attached to the disk drive 69.

  The recording medium 71 is configured by a hard disk, a flash memory, or the like, and records the compression encoded content supplied from the recording processing unit 64.

  The reproduction control unit 72 controls processing of the reproduction processing unit 73 based on an instruction from the system controller 75.

  The reproduction processing unit 73 reproduces the compressed encoded content recorded on the recording medium 71 according to the control of the reproduction control unit 72.

  The display processing unit 74 converts the content reproduced by the reproduction processing unit 73 into a form suitable for display on the display 32 and supplies the converted content to the display 32.

  The display 32 displays the content supplied from the display processing unit 74.

  The system controller 75 controls processing of the entire user recording / reproducing system 11. Detailed functions of the system controller 75 will be described later with reference to FIG.

[Server configuration example]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the server 12 in the content management system 1 of FIG.

  The server 12 is configured by connecting a network I / F unit 91, a management unit 92, and a recording medium 93 to each other via an inter / intra network 94.

  The server 12 is connected to the Internet 21 via the network I / F unit 91.

  The management unit 92 manages content transmitted from the user recording / playback system 11.

  The recording medium 93 includes a hard disk, a flash memory, and the like, and records content transmitted from the user recording / reproducing system 11.

[Functional configuration example of system controller]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the system controller 75 of the user recording / reproducing system 11.

  The system controller 75 includes a recording / playback control unit 131, a rising characteristic calculation unit 132, and a display control unit 133.

  The recording / playback control unit 131 records the content on the recording medium 71, reads the content from the recording medium 71, and plays it back. The recording / playback control unit 131 also performs monitoring of the free capacity of the recording medium 71, recording and playback of content, and content archiving processing.

  The climax characteristic calculation unit 132 calculates the climax characteristic from the feature amount for each scene included in the content supplied from the image / audio feature extraction unit 65. In other words, the climax characteristic calculation unit 132 changes the image feature amount of the content 41 (that is, it can be determined that the image feature amount increases as the change in the image feature amount is severe), and changes in the audio feature amount (that is, the audio level). The value of the climax characteristic is calculated according to the fact that the higher the value is, the higher the value is.

  The display control unit 133 executes control for causing the display 32 to display an inquiry to the user.

  Next, with respect to the archiving process based on the climax characteristic described with reference to FIG. 2 and the process of reproducing the content subjected to the archiving process by the process (hereinafter referred to as the content reproduction process), FIG. 6 and FIG. Will be described.

[Archive processing based on climax characteristics]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of archive processing based on the climax characteristic.

  The archive processing based on the climax characteristic is started when recording of new content is instructed according to an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user.

  In step S <b> 11, the recording / playback control unit 131 determines whether the recording medium 71 has a free space necessary for recording new content.

  When a program is adopted as the content, for example, the free capacity of the recording medium 71 necessary for recording the content is calculated as follows. As described above, in the present embodiment, EPG information included in the broadcast signal is appropriately received from the tuner 62 and recorded in advance on the recording medium 71. Therefore, for example, the recording / playback control unit 131 reads EPG information including the program from the recording medium 71, acquires the broadcast start time and broadcast end time of the program from the EPG information, and calculates the broadcast time of the program from these times. calculate. Then, the recording / playback control unit 131 calculates the capacity necessary for recording the program based on the broadcast time, and compares it with the free capacity of the recording medium 71 to determine whether there is a free capacity necessary for recording. .

  If there is free space necessary for recording, it is determined as YES in step S11, and the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S 12, the recording / playback control unit 131 records new content on the recording medium 71. That is, in this case, new content is recorded on the recording medium 71 as it is.

  Thereby, the archiving process based on the climax characteristic ends.

  On the other hand, when there is no free space necessary for recording, it is determined as NO in Step S11, and the process proceeds to Step S13.

  In step S13, the recording / playback control unit 131 selects content to be archived based on the access frequency. That is, the recording / playback control unit 131 selects, as the content to be archived, content that has been accessed less frequently by the user from among the recorded content. In the following description, it is assumed that the content 41 shown in FIG. 2 is selected as the content to be archived.

  In step S <b> 14, the climax characteristic calculation unit 132 calculates the climax characteristic of the scene included in the content 41. In other words, the climax characteristic calculation unit 132 calculates the climax characteristic of the scene included in the content 41 from the feature amount for each scene included in the content 41 extracted by the video / audio feature extraction unit 65. Specifically, for example, the climax characteristic calculation unit 132 calculates the climax characteristic of the scene 41-1 illustrated in FIG.

  In step S15, the climax characteristic calculation unit 132 determines whether the value of the climax characteristic of the scene 41-1 is equal to or less than the threshold value L.

  When the value of the climax characteristic is equal to or less than the threshold value L, it is determined as YES in Step S15, and the process proceeds to Step S17. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, since the value of the climax characteristic of the scene 41-1 is equal to or less than the threshold value L, it is determined as YES in step S15. The processing after step S17 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the value of the climax characteristic is larger than the threshold value L, it is determined as NO in step S15, and the process proceeds to step S16. For example, when the value of the climax characteristic is larger than the threshold value L as in the scene 41-5 in FIG. 2, it is determined as NO in step S15.

  In step S16, when the climax characteristic calculation unit 132 sets the next scene as a processing target, the process returns to step S14, and the subsequent processing is repeated. That is, the loop process of steps S14 to S16 is repeated until the scene climax characteristic becomes equal to or less than the threshold value L. While the loop processing of steps S14 to S16 is repeated, a scene having a climax value greater than the threshold value L is not recorded as an archiving target but is recorded on the recording medium 71 as it is.

  Thereafter, when the climax characteristic of the scene becomes equal to or less than the threshold value L, it is determined as YES in Step S15, and the process proceeds to Step S17.

  In step S17, the recording / playback control unit 131 executes archive processing. That is, the recording / playback control unit 131 performs a predetermined compression encoding process on a scene having a climax characteristic that is equal to or less than the threshold value L and transmits the scene to the server 12. As a result, the scene is deleted from the recording medium 71. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, scenes 41-1 and 41-2 are subjected to a predetermined compression encoding process to be compression encoded data 51-1, which is transmitted to the server 12 via the Internet 21. The Then, the compressed encoded data 51-1 is recorded on the recording medium 93 of the server 12 and is in an archive state. As a result, the scenes 41-1 and 41-2 are deleted from the recording medium 71.

  In step S <b> 18, the recording / playback control unit 131 determines whether the processing has been completed for all scenes included in the content 41. That is, the recording / playback control unit 131 determines whether the processing has been completed for all of the scenes 41-1 to 41-M included in the content 41 as illustrated in FIG.

  If the processing has not been completed for all the scenes, it is determined NO in step S18, the processing returns to step S16, and the subsequent processing is repeated. That is, the loop process of steps S14 to S18 is repeated until the process is completed for all scenes.

  Thereafter, when the processing is completed for all the scenes, it is determined as YES in Step S18, and the processing proceeds to Step S19.

  In step S <b> 19, the recording / playback control unit 131 determines whether the recording medium 71 has enough free space for recording. That is, the recording / playback control unit 131 records new content on the recording medium 71 by deleting a part of the archive-targeted content 41 (that is, an unsuccessful section) from the recording medium 71. It is determined whether the necessary free space is secured.

  If the free space necessary for recording has not yet been secured on the recording medium 71, it is determined NO in step S19, the process returns to step S13, and the subsequent processes are repeated. That is, the loop process of steps S13 to S19 is repeated until the recording medium 71 has enough free space for recording new content.

  After that, when a free space necessary for recording new content is secured on the recording medium 71, it is determined as YES in Step S19, and the process proceeds to Step S20.

  In step S <b> 20, the recording / playback control unit 131 records new content on the recording medium 71.

  Thereby, the archiving process based on the climax characteristic ends.

  In addition, the example of FIG. 6 demonstrated the case where the standard that the access frequency by a user was low was employ | adopted as a predetermined | prescribed determination criterion for selecting the archive object. However, as described above, a determination criterion that the operation content of the user with respect to the input device is an instruction to delete predetermined content may be employed. That is, even when the content 41 is deleted in accordance with an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user, the content 41 is archived.

  In this case, the process of FIG. 6 is started from step S13, and the content instructed to be deleted in accordance with the operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user in step S13 is the content to be archived. The subsequent processing is the same as the processing in steps S14 to S18 in FIG. And when it determines with YES by step S18, a process is complete | finished.

  As a result of the execution of the archiving process based on the above climax characteristics, the content to be archived is recorded on the recording medium 93 of the server 12 to be in an archive state and deleted from the recording medium 71. Therefore, the recording medium 71 has a free space necessary for recording new content.

  Even if the content is deleted from the recording medium 71 as a result of the archiving process, the content is recorded in the server 12. Therefore, the user can reproduce even the content deleted from the recording medium 71.

[Content playback processing]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of content reproduction processing.

  The content reproduction process is started when reproduction of content is instructed according to an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user.

  In step S31, the recording / playback control unit 131 determines whether the content instructed to be played is a deleted content. In other words, the recording / playback control unit 131 determines whether the content for which playback has been instructed is content that has been deleted from the recording medium 71 as a result of the archiving process.

  When the content instructed to be reproduced is not the deleted content, it is determined as NO in Step S31, and the process proceeds to Step S32.

  In step S32, the recording / playback control unit 131 plays back the content instructed to be played back. When the content instructed to be reproduced is not the deleted content, the content remains recorded on the recording medium 71. Therefore, the recording / playback control unit 131 reads and plays back the content recorded on the recording medium 71.

  As a result, the content reproduction process ends.

  On the other hand, when the content instructed to be reproduced is a deleted content, it is determined as YES in Step S31, and the process proceeds to Step S33. In the following description, it is assumed that the deleted content is the content 41 deleted in the process of FIG.

  In step S33, the display control unit 133 displays that the selected content 41 is in the archive state.

  In step S <b> 34, the display control unit 133 displays an inquiry as to whether to play the climax section or the entire section of the selected content 41. In response to the displayed inquiry, the user can operate the operation unit 66 to select whether to reproduce the climax section of the selected content or to reproduce the entire section.

  In step 35, the recording / playback control unit 131 determines whether playback of the climax section of the content 41 is instructed.

  When reproduction of the climax section of the content 41 is instructed, it is determined as YES in Step S35, and the process proceeds to Step S36.

  In step S <b> 36, the recording / playback control unit 131 plays back the climax section of the content 41. That is, the recording / playback control unit 131 reads and plays back the scenes 41-5 and 41-6 that are recorded in the recording medium 71 without being deleted. As a result, the content reproduction process ends.

  On the other hand, if reproduction of the climax section of the content 41 is not instructed in step 35, that is, reproduction of the entire section of the content 41 is instructed, it is determined as NO in step S35, and processing is performed. Advances to step S37.

  In step S <b> 37, the recording / playback control unit 131 receives the compression-encoded content 41 from the server 12 and records it on the recording medium 71. That is, the recording / playback control unit 131 receives the compression encoded data 51-1 to 51-3 from the server 12 and records the data on the recording medium 71.

  In step S38, the recording / playback control unit 131 plays back the entire section of the content 41. That is, the recording / playback control unit 131 decompresses and decodes the compression encoded data 51-1 to 51-3. The recording / reproducing apparatus 31 includes decompressed and decoded scenes 41-1 to 41-4, 41-7, 41-8 and scenes 41-5 and 41-6 recorded in the recording / reproducing apparatus 31. Combine and play content.

  As a result, the content reproduction process ends.

  By the content reproduction process, the user can view the content that has been archived to secure the recording capacity and has been deleted from the recording medium 71. In addition, even when the user deletes the content, the user can view the deleted content. Furthermore, the user can know the outline of the content quickly by instructing the reproduction of the climax section.

  In the above example, when the archive process is performed on a part of the content 41, the section on which the archive process is performed is determined based on the climax characteristic of the content 41. However, the determination of the section in which the content 41 is archived is not limited to being based on the climax characteristics. For example, the archiving process may be performed on the content 41 other than the section designated by the user as a favorite. That is, archiving processing may be prohibited for a section of the content 41 designated as a favorite.

<2. Second Embodiment>
In the first embodiment, the recording / reproducing apparatus performs archiving processing on the content, and as a result, the content is deleted from the recording medium, thereby securing a free space necessary for recording new content. However, the method for securing the free space necessary for recording new content is not limited to this. For example, the recording / reproducing apparatus may leave only metadata that can identify the content content on the recording medium, and delete the content itself to secure a free space necessary for recording.

[Configuration example of content management system]
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a content management system to which the second embodiment of the present technology is applied.

  The content management system 151 in FIG. 8 includes a user recording / playback system 161 and servers 162-1 to 162-N (N is an integer value of 2 or more, and 3 in the example of FIG. 8). Are connected to each other. The user recording / reproducing system 161 includes a recording / reproducing apparatus 181 and a display 182. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to individually distinguish the servers 162-1 to 162-3, they are collectively referred to as a server 162. The server 162 is a commercial server or the like, and has an enormous number of contents recorded therein.

  The basic configurations of the user recording / reproducing system 161 and the server 162 are the same as those of the user recording / reproducing system 11 of FIG. 3 and the server 12 of FIG. Therefore, the configurations of the user recording / reproducing system 11 in FIG. 3 and the server 12 in FIG. 4 are also referred to as the configurations of the user recording / reproducing system 161 and the server 162 in FIG.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus 181 determines whether the recording medium 71 has sufficient free space for the data capacity of the new content before recording the new content on the recording medium. When the recording / playback device 181 determines that the recording medium 71 does not have enough free space for recording new content, the recording / playback device 181 selects content that is accessed less frequently by the user from the recorded content as content to be deleted. In the case of FIG. 8, it is assumed that the content 211 is selected as the content to be deleted.

  The recording / reproducing device 181 records only the metadata 191 that can identify the content of the selected content 211 to be deleted on the recording medium 71, and deletes the content 211 itself. In the present embodiment, the feature amount for each scene of the content 211 extracted by the image / audio feature extraction unit 65 is adopted as the metadata 191.

  As will be described later, the recording / playback apparatus 181 uses content for each scene of the content 211 recorded on the recording medium 71 to have content having the same or similar feature as the content 211 (hereinafter referred to as similar content). Can be played. That is, the recording / reproducing apparatus 181 can delete the content 211 itself having a large data amount by recording the feature amount of each scene of the content 211 on the recording medium 71. As a result, a free space necessary for recording new content is secured on the recording medium 71.

  The recording / reproducing device 181 also records the key frame 192 of the content 211 on the recording medium 71 together with the feature amount of each scene of the content 211. The key frame is, for example, one frame included in the scene having the highest climax characteristic among the scenes included in the content 211. The key frame 192 can be used as a thumbnail image of the deleted content 211. For example, when displaying the thumbnail images of a plurality of contents recorded on the recording medium 71, the recording / reproducing device 181 actually displays the thumbnail images of the contents 211 deleted from the recording medium 71. A key frame 192 can be used.

  When an instruction to reproduce the deleted content 211 is given, the recording / reproducing device 181 extracts a feature amount for each scene of the content 211 recorded on the recording medium 71. Then, the recording / playback device 181 has a feature amount that is the same as or similar to the feature amount of the scene of the content 211 for each scene of the content 211 among the scenes included in the plurality of content recorded in the server 162. (Hereinafter referred to as a similar scene).

  When searching for a similar scene from scenes included in a plurality of contents recorded in the server 162, the recording / playback apparatus 181 searches according to a preset allowable similarity. The allowable similarity is a similarity that is allowed as a similar scene of a predetermined scene. That is, a scene whose similarity with a predetermined scene is equal to or higher than the allowable similarity is searched as a similar scene, while a scene whose similarity with the predetermined scene is less than the allowable similarity is not searched as a similar scene. Therefore, by setting the allowable similarity to a predetermined value, it is possible to freely change the range searched for similar scenes of the predetermined scene. Therefore, in order to increase the number of similar scene searches, the allowable similarity may be lowered. Conversely, if it is desired to reduce the number of similar scene searches, the allowable similarity may be increased. The allowable similarity can be arbitrarily set by the user.

  Here, lowering the allowable similarity means that it is easier to search for similar scenes, but the similar scenes searched in this way may be scenes with low similarity. . Accordingly, a lower limit value (threshold value) of the allowable similarity is provided in order to prevent a scene having a certain similarity or less from being searched as a similar scene. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a scene having a similarity less than the threshold from being searched as a similar scene.

  When a similar scene is searched for each of a plurality of scenes, a scene with a similarity less than the threshold is not searched as a similar scene, and therefore, some of the plurality of scenes are not searched. In such a case, the number of similar scenes retrieved is smaller than the number of original scenes. Therefore, the similar content connecting the searched similar scenes is the same as or shorter than the original content.

  In the example of FIG. 8, scenes 211-1 and 211-2 are recorded on the server 162-1, and scenes 211-3 to 211-5 are recorded on the server 162-2. -3 records scenes 211-6 and 211-7.

  The recording / playback device 181 searches for similar scenes from these scenes recorded in the server 162 according to a preset allowable similarity. If a similar scene is found, the recording / reproducing device 181 records the similar scene on the recording medium 71.

  On the other hand, if a similar scene is not found as a result of searching according to the preset allowable similarity, the recording / reproducing device 181 attempts to re-search for a similar scene by lowering the allowable similarity below a preset value. . Thereby, even if the degree of similarity is low, it is possible to search for a similar scene having a certain degree of similarity. If a similar scene is found, the recording / reproducing device 181 records the similar scene on the recording medium 71.

  Next, a case where the user gives an instruction to reproduce the content 211 deleted from the recording medium 72 will be described with reference to FIG.

[Play content]
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the reproduction of the content 211.

  When the recording / playback apparatus 181 searches for similar scenes for each scene included in the content 211 from the scenes included in the content recorded in the server 162, the following results are obtained. That is, among the scenes included in the content 211, similar scenes of the scenes 211-1, 211-2 are recorded in the server 162-1, and similar scenes of the scenes 211-3, 211-4 are stored in the server 162-2. It is assumed that the scenes 211-6 and 211-7 are recorded in the server 162-3.

  The recording / reproducing device 181 records the plurality of similar scenes on the recording medium 71. Then, the recording / reproducing device 181 combines the new content including the plurality of similar scenes recorded on the recording medium 71 and the key frame 192 recorded on the recording medium 71, and reproduces the new content. Thereby, the recording / reproducing apparatus 181 can reproduce the similar content of the content 211 deleted from the recording medium 71.

  As described above, the recording / reproducing apparatus 181 can search for a scene having high similarity to the scene included in the content 211, and can reproduce content having high similarity to the content 211.

  The content 211 selected as the content to be deleted is content that is accessed less frequently by the user. That is, even if the user has watched the content 211 in the past, it can be assumed that there is a high possibility that the content is not stored in detail at present. Therefore, when the user gives an instruction to reproduce the content 211 deleted from the recording medium 72, it is preferable that the similar content similar to the content 211 is reproduced rather than the content 211 being reproduced. Can be assumed to be satisfied.

  When a plurality of similar scenes of a predetermined scene included in the content 211 can be searched in the server 162, the similar scene with better image quality is selected preferentially. For example, it is assumed that a similar scene of a low definition or standard resolution SD (Standard Definition) image and a similar scene of a high resolution HD (High Definition) image are searched as similar scenes of a predetermined scene. In this case, the recording / reproducing device 181 selects a similar scene of a high-resolution HD image and records it on the recording medium 71.

  In the above example, the recording / reproducing apparatus 181 records the key frame 192 of the content 211 on the recording medium 71 together with the feature amount of each scene of the content 211. However, the key frame 192 of the content 211 may be deleted without being recorded on the recording medium 71. In this case, for the deleted key frame 192, the same or similar one is searched from the server 162.

  In the above-described example, the feature amount for each scene of the content 211 is adopted as the metadata 191 that can identify the content of the selected content 211. However, the metadata 191 is not limited to this. For example, when a program is adopted as the content 211, EPG information can be adopted as the metadata 191. The recording / playback device 181 searches for similar content from the content recorded in the server 162 based on information such as the title, broadcast time, channel, and broadcast area of the content 211 included in the EPG information, and plays it back. Can do.

  Further, for example, when a video shot by the user is adopted as the content 211, information such as a shooting date and a shooting location of the video can be adopted as the metadata 191. Specifically, when the content 211 is a video in which a user has photographed a predetermined event, the recording / reproducing device 181 searches the server 162 for content in which the same event is photographed. Then, the recording / reproducing device 181 can search and record similar scenes of the scene included in the content 211 from the scenes included in the searched content, and synthesize and reproduce new content including them. it can.

[Functional configuration example of system controller]
FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the system controller 75 of the user recording / playback system 161.

  The system controller 75 includes a recording / playback control unit 231, a search unit 232, and a display control unit 233.

  The recording / playback control unit 231 can record content on a recording medium, read the content from the recording medium, and play it back. In addition, the recording / playback control unit 231 executes monitoring of the free space of the recording medium 71, recording, playback and deletion of contents, recording of feature values, and the like.

  The search unit 232 searches the server 162 for a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211.

  The display control unit 233 executes control for causing the display 32 to display a warning display for the user.

  Next, the process of recording only the metadata 191 and deleting the content (hereinafter referred to as content deletion process) described with reference to FIG. 8 will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, a process (hereinafter referred to as a content reproduction process) in which the deleted content is reproduced, which has been described with reference to FIG. 9, will be described with reference to FIG. 11 and 12, the key frame 192 of the content 211 is deleted without being recorded on the recording medium 71.

[Content deletion process]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of content deletion processing.

  The content deletion process is started when recording of new content is instructed in accordance with an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user.

  In step S51, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether the recording medium 71 has a free capacity necessary for recording new content.

  If the recording medium 71 has a free space necessary for recording, it is determined as YES in Step S51, and the process proceeds to Step S52.

  In step S 52, the recording / playback control unit 231 records new content on the recording medium 71. That is, in this case, new content is recorded on the recording medium 71 as it is.

  Thereby, the content deletion process ends.

  On the other hand, if the recording medium 71 does not have a free space necessary for recording, it is determined as NO in Step S51, and the process proceeds to Step S53.

  In step S53, the recording / playback control unit 231 selects content to be deleted based on the access frequency. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 selects content that is accessed less frequently by the user from the recorded content as content to be deleted. In the following description, it is assumed that the content 211 shown in FIG. 8 is selected as the content to be deleted.

  In step S54, the recording / playback control unit 231 extracts the feature amount of the scene included in the content 211. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 extracts the feature amount for each scene included in the content 211 extracted by the audio / video feature extraction unit 65.

  In step S55, the recording / playback control unit 231 records the feature amount of the scene, and deletes the frame data constituting the scene.

  In step S <b> 56, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether the processing has been completed for all scenes included in the content 211. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 records the feature amounts of all scenes included in the content 211, and determines whether the frame data constituting the scene in which the feature amounts are recorded has been deleted.

  If the processing has not been completed for all the scenes, it is determined as NO in Step S56, and the process proceeds to Step S57.

  In step S57, when the recording / playback control unit 231 sets the next scene as a processing target, the processing returns to step S54, and the subsequent processing is repeated. That is, the loop process of steps S54 to S57 is repeated until the process is completed for all scenes.

  Thereafter, when the processing is completed for all the scenes, it is determined as YES in Step S56, and the processing proceeds to Step S58.

  In step S <b> 58, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether the recording medium 71 has enough free space for recording. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 records only the feature amount of the content 211 on the recording medium 71, and the content 211 is deleted, so that a free space necessary for recording new content is secured on the recording medium 71. It is determined.

  If the free space necessary for recording is not yet secured on the recording medium 71, it is determined NO in step S58, the process returns to step S53, and the subsequent processes are repeated. That is, the loop processing of steps S53 to S58 is repeated until the recording medium 71 has enough free space for recording new content.

  Thereafter, when a free space necessary for recording new content is secured in the recording medium 71, it is determined as YES in Step S58, and the process proceeds to Step S59.

  In step S <b> 59, the recording / playback control unit 231 records new content on the recording medium 71.

  Thereby, the content deletion process ends.

  In addition, the example of FIG. 11 demonstrated the case where the standard that the access frequency by a user was low was employ | adopted as a predetermined | prescribed determination criterion for selecting the archive object. However, as described above, a determination criterion that the operation content of the user with respect to the input device is an instruction to delete predetermined content may be employed. That is, even when the content 211 is deleted according to an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user, only the feature amount of the content 211 is recorded on the recording medium 71 and the content 211 is deleted.

  In this case, the process of FIG. 11 is started from step S53, and in the process of step S53, the content instructed to be deleted according to the operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user is the content to be deleted. Thereafter, the processing of steps S54 to S56 is executed in the same manner as described above. And when it determines with YES in step S56, a process is complete | finished.

  As a result of executing the above content deletion processing, only the feature amount of the content to be deleted is recorded in the recording medium 71, and the content is deleted, so that a free space necessary for recording new content is secured. .

[Content playback processing]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of content reproduction processing.

  The content reproduction process is started when reproduction of content is instructed according to an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user.

  In step S71, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether the content instructed to be played is a deleted content.

  When the content instructed to be reproduced is not the deleted content, it is determined as NO in Step S71, and the process proceeds to Step S72.

  In step S72, the recording / playback control unit 231 plays back the content instructed to be played back. When the content instructed to be reproduced is not the deleted content, the content remains recorded on the recording medium 71. Therefore, the recording / playback control unit 231 reads and plays back the content recorded on the recording medium 71.

  Thereby, the content reproduction process ends.

  On the other hand, when the content instructed to be reproduced is the deleted content 211, it is determined as YES in Step S71, and the process proceeds to Step S73. In the following description, it is assumed that the deleted content is the content 211 deleted in the process of FIG.

  In step S <b> 73, the recording / playback control unit 231 reads a feature amount of a predetermined scene of the content 211. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 reads out a feature amount of a predetermined scene of the content 211 recorded on the recording medium 71 by the content deletion process of FIG.

  In step S <b> 74, the search unit 232 searches for a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211. That is, the search unit 232 searches for a similar scene from the scenes included in a plurality of contents recorded in the server 162 via the Internet 171 according to a preset allowable similarity.

  In step S75, the search unit 232 determines whether a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 has been found.

  When a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 is not found, it is determined as NO in Step S75, and the process proceeds to Step S77. The processing after step S77 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 is found, it is determined as YES in Step S75, and the process proceeds to Step S76.

  In step S76, the recording / playback control unit 231 records a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 on the recording medium 71.

  When a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 is recorded on the recording medium 71, the process proceeds to step S82. The processing after step S82 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 is not found in step S75, it is determined as NO and the process proceeds to step S77.

  In step S77, the search unit 232 searches again with a lower allowable similarity. In other words, the search unit 232 tries to search for a scene having a feature amount that is less similar to the feature amount of the predetermined scene than the scene searched in the process of step S74.

  In step S78, the search unit 232 determines whether the allowable similarity is smaller than a threshold value.

  When the allowable similarity is smaller than the threshold value, it is determined as YES in Step S78, and the process proceeds to Step S81. The processing after step S81 will be described later.

  On the other hand, if the allowable similarity is greater than or equal to the threshold value, it is determined as NO in step S78, and the process proceeds to step S79.

  In step S79, the search unit 232 determines whether a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 has been found.

  If a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 is found, it is determined as YES in Step S79, and the process proceeds to Step S80.

  In step S80, the display control unit 233 displays a warning. That is, the similar scene found in step S79 is a scene searched after the allowable similarity is lowered, and is a scene having a feature amount having a low degree of similarity with the feature amount of the predetermined scene of the content 211. Therefore, the display control unit 233 executes control for causing the display 32 to display a warning display indicating that a scene having a low degree of similarity to the scene included in the content 211 is included.

  If a warning is displayed, the process proceeds to step S76.

  In step S76, the recording / playback control unit 231 records a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 on the recording medium 71. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 records the similar scene searched after the allowable similarity is lowered on the recording medium 71.

  When a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 is recorded on the recording medium 71, the process proceeds to step S82. The processing after step S82 will be described later.

  On the other hand, if a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 is not found in step S79, it is determined as NO, the process returns to step S77, and the subsequent processes are repeated. That is, while the allowable similarity is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the loop process of steps S77 to S79 is repeated until a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 211 is found.

  Thereafter, when the allowable similarity is smaller than the threshold value, it is determined as YES in Step S78, and the process proceeds to Step S81.

  In step S81, the display control unit 233 displays a warning. That is, when the allowable similarity is smaller than the threshold value, a similar scene of a predetermined scene is not searched. Therefore, the display control unit 233 displays a warning that the similar content to be reproduced is shorter than the content 211.

  In step S <b> 82, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether the processing has been completed for all scenes included in the content 211. In other words, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether similar scene search has been completed for all scenes included in the content 211.

  If the processing has not been completed for all the scenes, it is determined NO in step S82, the processing returns to step S73, and the subsequent processing is repeated. That is, the loop process of steps S73 to S82 is repeated until the process is completed for all scenes.

  Thereafter, when the processing is completed for all the scenes, it is determined as YES in Step S82, and the processing proceeds to Step S83.

  In step S83, the recording / playback control unit 231 plays back similar content. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 synthesizes and plays back new content including a plurality of similar scenes recorded on the recording medium 71 as a result of the search. That is, similar content of the content 211 deleted from the recording medium 71 is reproduced.

  Thereby, the content reproduction process ends.

  Through the content reproduction process, the user can view content having a high degree of similarity with content deleted from the recording medium 71 in order to ensure recording capacity. In addition, the user can view content that has a high degree of similarity with the deleted content.

<3. Third Embodiment>
In the second embodiment, only the metadata that can identify the content of the recorded content is recorded on the recording medium, and the content itself is deleted, thereby securing a free space necessary for recording. In this case, a server such as a commercial server needs to record a huge number of contents so that the user recording / playback system can search for similar scenes included in the deleted contents. However, without recording a huge number of contents on the server, the user recording / reproducing system may be able to search for similar contents from contents recorded in other user recording / reproducing systems.

[Configuration example of content management system]
FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a content management system to which the third embodiment of the present technology is applied.

  In the content management system 251 in FIG. 13, the user recording / playback systems 261-1 to 261 -N (N is an integer value of 2 or more and 3 in the example of FIG. 13) and the server 262 are connected to the Internet 271. Are connected to each other. The user recording / reproducing system 261-i (i is any integer value from 1 to 3) includes a recording / reproducing device 281-i and a display 282-i. The server 262 is directly connected to the feature amount database 291 by a cable or the like.

  Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to individually distinguish the user recording / reproducing systems 261-1 to 261-3, these are collectively referred to as a user recording / reproducing system 261. The same applies to other components.

  The basic configurations of the user recording / reproducing system 261 and the server 262 are the same as those of the user recording / reproducing system 11 of FIG. 3 and the server 12 of FIG. Therefore, the configurations of the user recording / reproducing system 11 in FIG. 3 and the server 12 in FIG. 4 are also referred to as the configurations of the user recording / reproducing system 261 and the server 262 in FIG. Further, the arrows in FIG. 13 indicate the flow of processing, and the numbers K (K is 1 to 6) indicated in the arrows indicate the order of the flow of processing. Therefore, the process flow will be described in order by referring to the arrow indicating the number K as the Kth arrow.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 of the user recording / reproducing system 261-1 determines whether the recording medium 71 has a free space necessary for recording when newly recording content. When the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 determines that the recording medium 71 does not have a free space necessary for recording new content, the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 deletes content that is less frequently accessed by the user from the content recorded on the recording medium 71. Select as target content. In the case of FIG. 13, it is assumed that the content 301 is selected as the content to be deleted.

  As indicated by the first arrow, the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 transmits metadata that can identify the content 301 to the server 262 before deleting the content 301 to be deleted. In the present embodiment, the feature amount of the content 301 extracted by the image / audio feature extraction unit 65 is employed as the metadata.

  Then, as indicated by the second arrow, the server 262 transmits the feature amount of the content 301 received from the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 to the user recording / reproducing systems 261-2 and 261-3. Then, the server 262 inquires of the user recording / playback systems 261-2 and 261-3 whether there is a similar content of the content 301.

  As indicated by the third arrow, the user recording / reproducing systems 261-2 and 261-3 reply to the inquiry. That is, the user recording / reproducing systems 261-2 and 261-3 determine whether similar content of the content 301 is recorded in their own recording / reproducing devices 281-2 and 281-3. Then, the user recording / reproducing systems 261-2 and 261-3 respectively transmit inquiry results with or without similar content.

  Here, it is assumed that the user recording / reproducing system 261-3 transmits an inquiry result indicating that there is no similar content. That is, in the recording / reproducing device 281-3, the similar content of the content 301 is deleted from the recording / reproducing device 281-3 because it is not originally recorded, the reproduction frequency is low, or the user has deleted it.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that the user recording / reproducing system 261-2 transmits an inquiry result indicating that there is similar content. That is, in the recording / reproducing device 281-2, the similar content 302 of the content 301 is recorded, and the similar content 302 is not recorded in the recording / reproducing device 281-2 because the frequency of reproduction is not low.

  Then, as indicated by the fourth arrow, the server 262 displays the information about the recording / playback device 281-2 of the user recording / playback system 261-2 that has transmitted the inquiry result indicating the presence of similar content and the feature amount of the similar content 302. And recorded in the feature amount database 291. The information of the recording / reproducing device 281-2 may be information identifying the recording / reproducing device 281-2, and may be, for example, user information of the recording / reproducing device 281-2.

  Next, as indicated by the fifth arrow, the server 262 records in the recording / playback apparatus 281 of another user recording / playback system 261 whether the similar content of the content 301 is recorded in the user recording / playback system 261-1. Sends a negative result. In the case of FIG. 13, similar content 302 is recorded in the user recording / reproducing system 261-2. Therefore, the server 262 transmits the result that the similar content of the content 301 is recorded in the recording / playback device 281 of the other user recording / playback system 261.

  When receiving the result that similar content is recorded in the recording / playback device 281 of the other user recording / playback system 261, the recording / playback device 281-1 of the user recording / playback system 261-1 determines the feature amount of the content 301. Is recorded, the content 301 is deleted. Note that the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 also records the feature amount of each scene of the content 301.

  On the other hand, when receiving the result that the similar content is not recorded in the recording / reproducing apparatus 281 of the other user recording / reproducing system 261, the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 of the user recording / reproducing system 261-1 The process like this is executed.

  That is, the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 records the feature amount of the content 301, performs a predetermined compression encoding process on the content 301, and transmits the content 301 to the server 262. That is, the recording / reproducing device 281-1 performs an archive process on the content 301. As a result, the content 301 is deleted from the recording medium 71 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 and recorded on the recording medium 93 of the server 262. At this time, the server 262 also records the feature amount of the content 301. Further, when recording the feature amount of the content 301, the recording / reproducing device 281-1 also records the feature amount of each scene of the content 301.

  That is, in the content management system 251, a plurality of contents are distributed and recorded by a plurality of user recording / playback systems 261. Therefore, when the similar content 302 of the content 301 is recorded in the other user recording / reproducing system 261, the user recording / reproducing system 261-1 leaves only the feature amount of the content 301 from the recording medium 71. 301 can be deleted. On the other hand, when the similar content 302 of the content 301 is not recorded in the other user recording / reproducing system 261, the user recording / reproducing system 261-1 leaves the feature amount of the content 301, The content 301 is archived and recorded on the server 262. As a result, the user recording / reproducing system 261-1 can delete the content 301 from the recording medium 71.

  Although not shown, the Internet 271 is also connected to a plurality of servers 162 shown in FIG. As described above, the server 162 is a commercial server or the like, and an enormous number of contents are recorded.

  Next, the case where the recording / reproducing apparatus 281 reproduces the content 301 deleted from the recording medium 72 will be described with reference to FIG.

[Play content]
FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the reproduction of the content 301.

  FIG. 14 shows the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 of the user recording / reproducing system 261-1 shown in FIG. 13, the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-2 of the user recording / reproducing system 261-2, and the server 262. Yes. The recording / reproducing apparatuses 281-1 and 281-2 and the server 262 are connected to each other via the Internet 271. In addition, the arrow in a figure shows the flow of a process similarly to FIG.

  As indicated by the first arrow, when the reproduction of the deleted content 301 is instructed, the recording / reproducing device 281-1 transmits the feature amount of the content 301 recorded on the recording medium 71 to the server 262.

  Then, as indicated by the second arrow, the server 262 searches the recording medium 93 as to whether or not the compression encoded content 301 is recorded based on the received feature amount of the content 301. As a result of the search, if the compression-encoded content 301 is not found, the server 262 searches for similar content recorded in another recording / playback device 281. That is, the server 262 searches the feature amount database 291 for information on the recording / reproducing device 281 in which similar content is recorded.

  When the compression-encoded content 301 is recorded in the recording medium 93, the server 262 transmits the compression-encoded content 301 to the recording / reproducing device 281-1. However, in this case, it is assumed that the compression-encoded content 301 is not recorded on the recording medium 93 and information on the recording / reproducing device 281-2 in which similar content is recorded is found from the feature amount database 291. .

  As indicated by the third arrow, the server 262 inquires of the recording / playback apparatus 281-2 whether the similar content 302 can be distributed.

  Then, as indicated by the fourth arrow, the recording / reproducing device 281-2 transmits the result of distribution availability to the server 262.

  When the result indicating that the distribution is possible is transmitted to the server 262, the recording / reproducing device 281-2 transmits the similar content 302 to the recording / reproducing device 281-1 via the server 262, as indicated by the fifth arrow. Note that the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-2 may directly transmit the similar content 302 to the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 without transmitting the similar content 302 to the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 via the server 262.

  On the other hand, when the result of undeliverable is transmitted to the server 262, although not shown, the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-1 has a plurality of servers 162 that are commercial servers or the like as in the method described in FIG. A similar scene is searched for each scene included in the content 301.

  In the above-described example, the feature amount of the content 301 is used as metadata that can identify the content of the deleted content 301. However, the metadata is not limited to this. When a program is adopted as the content 301, for example, EPG information or the like can be adopted as metadata. Further, when a video shot by the user is adopted as the content 301, for example, information such as a shooting date and a shooting location can be adopted as the metadata.

  As described above, in the content management system 251, a plurality of contents are distributed and recorded by a plurality of user recording / playback systems 261. Therefore, it is not necessary for the server 262 to record a huge number of contents. Further, instead of the server 262, another user recording / reproducing system 261 can also distribute the content to the user recording / reproducing system 261-1. Therefore, the server 262 responds to a huge number of distribution requests. No need to respond. Therefore, the construction cost and operation cost of the server 262 can be suppressed.

[Functional configuration example of the management department]
FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the management unit 92 of the server 262.

  The management unit 92 includes a feature amount management unit 321, a content management unit 322, and a search unit 323.

  The feature amount management unit 321 sends and receives the content and the feature amount for each scene of the content to and from the user recording / playback system 261. Also, the feature amount management unit 321 inquires of the user recording / playback system 261 whether there is similar content, and detects the recording / playback device 281 having the similar content.

  The content management unit 322 exchanges content with the user recording / playback system 261. Also, the content management unit 322 makes an inquiry to the user recording / playback system 261 as to whether or not similar content can be distributed, and manages the content.

  The search unit 323 searches the recording / reproducing apparatus 281 in which the compression-encoded content 301 and the similar content are recorded based on the content and the feature amount of each content scene.

  A functional configuration example of the system controller 75 of the user recording / reproducing system 261 is the same as that shown in FIG.

  Next, a process (hereinafter referred to as a content deletion process) executed by the user recording / playback system 261-1 when only metadata is recorded and the content 301 is deleted, which is described with reference to FIG. 16 will be described. In addition, a process executed by the server 262 at that time (hereinafter referred to as a content management process at the time of deletion) will be described with reference to FIG.

  Furthermore, the processing (hereinafter referred to as content playback processing) executed by the user recording / playback system 261-1 when the deleted content 301 is played back, which has been described with reference to FIG. 14, will be described with reference to FIG. To do. In addition, a process executed by the server 262 at that time (hereinafter referred to as a content management process during reproduction) will be described with reference to FIG.

[Content deletion process]
FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining a content deletion process executed by the user recording / playback system 261-1, and FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining a flow of a deletion content management process executed by the server 262.

  The content deletion process in FIG. 16 is started when recording of new content is instructed according to an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user.

  In step S101, the recording / playback control unit 231 of the user recording / playback system 261-1 determines whether the recording medium 71 has a free space necessary for recording new content.

  If the recording medium 71 has a free space necessary for recording, it is determined as YES in Step S101, and the process proceeds to Step S102.

  In step S <b> 102, the recording / playback control unit 231 records new content on the recording medium 71. That is, in this case, new content is recorded on the recording medium 71 as it is.

  Thereby, the content deletion process ends.

  On the other hand, if the recording medium 71 does not have a free space necessary for recording, it is determined as NO in Step S101, and the process proceeds to Step S103.

  In step S103, the recording / playback control unit 231 selects content to be deleted based on the access frequency. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 selects content that is accessed less frequently by the user from the recorded content as content to be deleted. In the following description, it is assumed that the content 301 shown in FIG. 13 is selected as the content to be deleted.

  In step S <b> 104, the recording / playback control unit 231 transmits the feature amount of the content 301 to be deleted to the server 262. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 transmits the feature amount of the content 301 extracted by the video / audio feature extraction unit 65 to the server 262. In addition, the process after step S105 is mentioned later.

  In step S121 of FIG. 17, the feature amount management unit 321 of the server 262 receives the feature amount of the content 301 to be deleted transmitted by the recording / playback control unit 231.

  In step S122, the feature amount management unit 321 transmits the feature amount of the content to be deleted to the user recording / playback systems 261-2 and 261-3, and inquires whether there is similar content. That is, the feature amount management unit 321 tries to detect the user recording / playback system 261 in which similar content is recorded.

  In step S123, the feature amount management unit 321 determines whether an inquiry result indicating the presence of similar content has been received.

  When the inquiry result with similar content is not received, that is, the similar content is not recorded in either of the recording / reproducing devices 281-2 and 281-3 of the user recording / reproducing systems 261-2 and 261-3. If detected, it is determined as NO in Step S123, and the process proceeds to Step S126. The processing after step S126 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the inquiry result with similar content is received, that is, when the user recording / playback system 261 in which the similar content is recorded is detected, YES is determined in step S123, and the process proceeds to step S124. Proceed to In this case, it is assumed that the similar content 302 is recorded in the recording / playback device 281-2 of the user recording / playback system 261-2, and the recording / playback device 281-2 transmits an inquiry result indicating that there is similar content.

  In step S <b> 124, the feature amount management unit 321 records the information of the recording / playback device 281-2 having the similar content 302 and the feature amount of the similar content 302 in the feature amount database 291.

  In step S125, the feature amount management unit 321 transmits the result of the presence of similar content to the user recording / playback system 261-1. Thereby, the content management process at the time of deletion ends.

  In step S105 of FIG. 16, the recording / playback control unit 231 of the user recording / playback system 261-1 determines whether a result indicating the presence of similar content has been received.

  In this case, since a result indicating the presence of similar content is transmitted in step S125 of FIG. 17, it is determined as YES in step S105, and the process proceeds to step S106.

  In step S <b> 106, the recording / playback control unit 231 records the feature amount of the content 301 to be deleted on the recording medium 71. Note that the recording / playback control unit 231 also records the feature amount for each scene of the content 301 to be deleted.

  In step S107, the recording / playback control unit 231 deletes the content 301 to be deleted. That is, the content 301 to be deleted is deleted from the recording medium 71.

  In step S <b> 108, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether the recording medium 71 has enough free space for recording.

  If the free space necessary for recording has not yet been secured on the recording medium 71, it is determined NO in step S108, the process returns to step S103, and the subsequent processes are repeated. That is, the loop processing of steps S103 to S108 is repeated until the recording medium 71 has enough free space necessary for recording new content.

  After that, when a free space necessary for recording new content is secured on the recording medium 71, it is determined as YES in Step S108, and the process proceeds to Step S109.

  In step S 109, the recording / playback control unit 231 records new content on the recording medium 71.

  Thereby, the content deletion process ends.

  On the other hand, if the inquiry result with similar content is not received in step S123 of FIG. 17, it is determined as NO, and the process proceeds to step S126.

  In step S126, the feature amount management unit 321 transmits the result of no similar content to the user recording / playback system 261-1. The processing after step S127 will be described later.

  In step S105 of FIG. 16, the recording / playback control unit 231 of the user recording / playback system 261-1 determines whether a result indicating the presence of similar content has been received.

  In this case, since the result of no similar content is transmitted in step S126 of FIG. 17, it is determined as NO in step S105, and the process proceeds to step S110.

  In step S110, the recording / playback control unit 231 records the feature amount of the content 301 to be deleted. Note that the recording / playback control unit 231 also records the feature amount for each scene of the content 301 to be deleted.

  In step S111, the recording / playback control unit 231 executes an archiving process of the content 301 to be deleted. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 performs a predetermined compression encoding process on the content 301 to be deleted, and transmits it to the server 262. As a result, the content 301 is deleted from the recording medium 71.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S108. Note that the processing from step S108 onward is repeated and will be omitted.

  Thereby, the content deletion process ends.

  In step S <b> 111, when a predetermined compression encoding process is performed on the content 301 to be deleted, the compression encoded content 301 is transmitted to the server 262.

  In step S127 of FIG. 17, the content management unit 322 receives the compression-encoded content 301 to be deleted and records it in the recording medium 93.

  Thereby, the content management process at the time of deletion ends.

  In the example of FIG. 16, the case where the criterion that the access frequency by the user is low is adopted as the predetermined determination criterion for selecting the archiving target has been described. However, as described above, a determination criterion that the operation content of the user with respect to the input device is an instruction to delete predetermined content may be employed. That is, even when the content 301 is deleted according to an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user, the content 301 is archived.

  If the similar content 302 of the content 301 is recorded in another user recording / playback system 261 as a result of the above content deletion processing, only the feature amount of the content 301 is recorded, and the content 301 is recorded. It is deleted from the medium 71. On the other hand, when the similar content 302 of the content 301 is not recorded in the other user recording / playback system 261, the content 301 is recorded, and then the content 301 is archived. The As a result, the content 301 is deleted from the recording medium 71.

[Content playback processing]
FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of content playback processing executed by the user recording / playback system 261-1, and FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of playback content management processing executed by the server 262.

  The content reproduction process is started when reproduction of content is instructed according to an operation signal from the operation unit 66 that has received a predetermined operation by the user.

  In step S141, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether the content instructed to be played is a deleted content.

  When the content instructed to be reproduced is not the deleted content, it is determined as NO in Step S141, and the process proceeds to Step S142.

  In step S142, the recording / playback control unit 231 plays back the content instructed to be played back. When the content instructed to be reproduced is not the deleted content, the content remains recorded on the recording medium 71. Therefore, the recording / playback control unit 231 reads and plays back the content recorded on the recording medium 71.

  Thereby, the content reproduction process ends.

  On the other hand, when the content instructed to be reproduced is a deleted content, it is determined as YES in Step S141, and the process proceeds to Step S143. In the following description, it is assumed that the deleted content that has been instructed to be reproduced is the content 301 to be deleted that has been deleted from the recording medium 71 in the content deletion processing of FIG.

  In step S143, the recording / playback control unit 231 reads the feature amount of the deleted content 301. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 reads the feature amount of the content 301 recorded on the recording medium 71 in step S106 or step S110 of the content deletion process of FIG.

  In step S144, the recording / playback control unit 231 transmits the feature amount of the deleted content 301 to the server 262. The processing after step S145 will be described later.

  In step S171 of FIG. 19, the feature amount management unit 321 of the server 262 receives the feature amount of the deleted content 301.

  In step S <b> 172, the search unit 323 searches the recording medium 93 for the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded. That is, the search unit 323 searches for the compressed and deleted content 301 recorded in step S127 of the content management process at the time of deletion in FIG. 17 based on the feature amount of the deleted content 301.

  In step S173, the search unit 323 determines whether the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded has been found.

  When the deleted content 301 that has been compression-coded is not found, it is determined as NO in Step S173, and the process proceeds to Step S175. The processing after step S175 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is found, YES is determined in step S173, and the process proceeds to step S174.

  In step S174, the content management unit 322 transmits the compression-encoded deleted content 302 to the user recording / playback system 261-1. Thereby, the content management process at the time of reproduction ends.

  On the other hand, if the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is not found in step S173, it is determined NO and the process proceeds to step S175.

  In step S175, the search unit 323 searches the feature amount database 291 for information on the recording / playback device 281 having similar content. That is, the search unit 323 searches the information of the recording / playback apparatus 281 of the user recording / playback system 261 having similar content recorded in step S124 of the deletion-time content management process of FIG.

  In step S176, the search unit 323 determines whether information of the recording / reproducing device 281 having similar content has been found.

  If the information of the recording / reproducing device 281 having similar content is found, it is determined as YES in Step S176, and the process proceeds to Step S178. In this case, it is assumed that information of the recording / reproducing device 281-2 of the user recording / reproducing system 261-2 in which similar content is recorded is found. The processing after step S176 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the information of the recording / reproducing apparatus 281 having similar content is not found, it is determined as NO in Step S176, and the process proceeds to Step S177.

  In step S177, the content management unit 322 transmits information indicating that there is no similar content to the user recording / playback system 261-1. Thereby, the content management process at the time of reproduction ends.

  On the other hand, if the information of the recording / reproducing device 281 having the similar content 302 is found in step S176, it is determined as YES and the process proceeds to step S178.

  In step S178, the content management unit 322 transmits information indicating the presence of similar content to the user recording / playback system 261-1.

  In step S179, the content management unit 322 inquires of the recording / playback apparatus 281-2 of the user recording / playback system 261-2 having the similar content 302 whether the similar content 302 can be distributed.

  In step S <b> 180, the content management unit 322 determines whether an inquiry result indicating that the similar content 302 can be distributed has been received.

  When the inquiry result indicating that the distribution is possible is received, it is determined as YES in Step S180, and the process proceeds to Step S181. In addition, the process after step S181 is mentioned later.

  On the other hand, if the inquiry result indicating that the distribution is possible has not been received, it is determined as NO in Step S180, and the process proceeds to Step S183.

  In step S183, the content management unit 322 transmits an inquiry result indicating that distribution is not possible to the user recording / playback system 261-1. Thereby, the content management process at the time of reproduction ends.

  On the other hand, in step S180, if an inquiry result indicating that distribution is possible is received, it is determined as YES, and the process proceeds to step S181.

  In step S181, the content management unit 322 transmits a distribution enable inquiry result to the user recording / playback system 261-1.

  In step S182, the content management unit 322 receives the similar content 302 from the user recording / reproducing system 261-2, and transmits the similar content 302 to the user recording / reproducing system 261-1.

  Thereby, the content management process at the time of reproduction ends.

  When the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is found in step S173 in FIG. 19 and the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is transmitted to the user recording / playback system 261-1 in step S174, FIG. In step S145 of 18, the following processing is performed.

  In step S145 of FIG. 18, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether or not the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded has been received.

  In this case, since the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is transmitted in step S174 of FIG. 19, it is determined as YES in step S145, and the process proceeds to step S146. That is, when the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is transmitted in step S174 of FIG. 19, the recording / playback control unit 231 receives the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded and receives the recording medium 71. To record.

  In step S146, the recording / playback control unit 231 plays back the deleted content 301 that has been compression-coded. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 decompresses and reproduces the compressed and deleted content 301 recorded on the recording medium 71. Thereby, the content reproduction process ends.

  On the other hand, when the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is not found in step S173 of FIG. 19, the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is not transmitted to the user recording / playback system 261-1. Therefore, it is determined as NO in Step S145 of FIG. 18, and the process proceeds to Step S147.

  In step S147, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether information having similar content is received.

  If the information of the recording / playback apparatus having similar content is not found in step S176 in FIG. 19 and information without similar content is transmitted in step S177, it is determined as NO in step S147 in FIG. Advances to step S150. The processing after step S150 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the information of the recording / reproducing apparatus 281-2 having the similar content 302 is found in step S176 in FIG. 19 and the information with the similar content is transmitted in step S178, YES is determined in step S147 in FIG. Is determined, the process proceeds to step S148.

  In step S <b> 148, the recording / playback control unit 231 determines whether or not a delivery inquiry result has been received.

  If the inquiry result for distribution is not received in step S180 in FIG. 19 and the inquiry result for distribution is not transmitted in step S183, it is determined as NO in step S148 in FIG. 18, and the process proceeds to step S150. Proceed to The processing after step S150 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the inquiry result that can be distributed is received in step S180 in FIG. 19 and the inquiry result that distribution is possible is transmitted in step S181, it is determined as YES in step S148 in FIG. The process proceeds to step S149.

  In step S149, the recording / playback control unit 231 receives and plays back the similar content 302. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 receives and plays back the similar content 302 transmitted in step S182 of FIG. As a result, the content reproduction process ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S147 that information with similar content is not received, or if it is determined in step S148 that an inquiry result indicating that distribution is possible is not received, the process proceeds to step S150.

  In step S150, the recording / playback control unit 231 reads a feature amount of a predetermined scene of the deleted content 301. That is, the recording / playback control unit 231 reads out a predetermined scene feature amount of the content 301 recorded on the recording medium 71 by the content deletion processing of FIG.

  In step S151, the search unit 232 searches for similar scenes of a predetermined scene of the content 301. That is, the search unit 232 searches for similar scenes according to a preset allowable similarity from scenes included in a plurality of contents recorded in a plurality of servers 262 via the Internet 271.

  When a similar scene of the predetermined scene of the content 301 is searched, the process proceeds to step S152. Note that the processing after step S152, that is, the processing of steps S152 to S160, is the same as the processing of steps S75 to S83 in FIG.

  In step S160, when the content including a plurality of scenes recorded on the recording medium 71 is synthesized and reproduced as a result of the search in steps S151 to S159, the content reproduction process ends.

  That is, in the user recording / playback system 261-1, the deleted content 301 that has been compression-encoded is not recorded in the server 262, and further, similar to the content 301 that has been deleted in other user recording / playback systems 261 When the content 302 is not recorded, a similar scene is searched for each scene included in the content 301 from a plurality of other servers 162. Then, the user recording / reproducing system 261-1 searches for similar scenes recorded in the other plurality of servers 162, synthesizes contents including these, and reproduces them as similar contents of the deleted content 301.

  As described above, in the content management system 251, a plurality of contents are distributed and recorded by a plurality of user recording / playback systems 261. Therefore, it is not necessary for the server 262 to record a huge number of contents. Further, since the user recording / playback system 261 can distribute contents instead of the server 262, the server 262 does not need to respond to all of the huge number of distribution requests. Therefore, the construction cost and operation cost of the server 262 can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, the user recording / reproducing system 261-1 is similar to the content 301 deleted from the plurality of other servers 162 when similar content is not recorded in the server 262 and the other user recording / reproducing system 261. High content can be searched and played.

[Application of this technology to programs]
The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware or can be executed by software.

  When a series of processing is executed by software, a program constituting the software may execute various functions by installing a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware or various programs. For example, it is installed from a network or a recording medium into a general-purpose personal computer or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium including such a program is distributed to provide a program to the user separately from the apparatus main body, and a magnetic disk (including a floppy disk) on which the program is recorded. , Removable media (package media) consisting of optical disks (including CD-ROM (compact disk-read only memory), DVD (digital versatile disk)), magneto-optical disks (including MD (mini-disk)), or semiconductor memory ) 70 as well as a memory 68 in which a program is recorded and a hard disk included in the recording medium 71 provided to the user in a state of being incorporated in the apparatus main body in advance.

  In the present specification, the step of describing the program recorded on the recording medium is not limited to the processing performed in chronological order according to the order, but is not necessarily performed in chronological order, either in parallel or individually. The process to be executed is also included.

  Embodiments of the present technology are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present technology.

  In addition, this technique can also take the following structures.

(1)
A recording / playback control unit that records content on a predetermined recording medium, reads the content from the predetermined recording medium, and plays back the content;
The recording / playback control unit
When deleting the content to be deleted recorded on the predetermined recording medium, information necessary for reproducing the deleted content is transmitted to another information processing apparatus and recorded.
An information processing apparatus that, when instructed to reproduce the deleted content, combines and deletes the deleted content based on information from the other information processing apparatus.
(2)
The recording / playback control unit
The compression-encoded processing is performed on the content to be deleted, and the compression-encoded content obtained as a result is transmitted to the other information processing apparatus to be recorded,
When the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the content to be deleted recorded in the other information processing apparatus in the form of compression-encoded content is read, decompressed and decoded, and played back (1) Information processing device.
(3)
About the content to be deleted, further comprising a climax characteristic calculation unit that calculates a climax characteristic value indicating the degree of climax of the content in time series,
The recording / playback control unit performs the compression encoding process only for a section of the content to be deleted where the value of the climax characteristic calculated by the climax characteristic calculation unit is a predetermined threshold or less. The information processing apparatus according to (1) or (2).
(4)
A search unit for searching for content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content from a plurality of content recorded in the other information processing apparatus;
The recording / playback control unit
Recording metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted on the predetermined recording medium,
The search unit
Based on the metadata recorded on the predetermined recording medium by the recording / playback control unit, the same or similar to the deleted content from among a plurality of contents recorded in the other information processing apparatus Search for content
The recording / playback control unit
The information processing apparatus according to (1), (2), or (3), wherein the same or similar content as the content searched by the search unit is read from the other information processing apparatus and played back.
(5)
The metadata is a feature amount for each of a plurality of scenes included in the content,
For each of the plurality of contents recorded in the other information processing apparatus, the search unit includes a scene having a feature quantity that is the same as or similar to the feature quantity for each of the plurality of scenes included in the deleted content. The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the information is searched from scenes included in the information.
(6)
The search unit sets a similar range for the feature amount for each of a plurality of scenes included in the deleted content in accordance with a preset allowable similarity, according to (1) to (5) The information processing apparatus according to any one of the above.
(7)
Any of (1) to (6), further comprising: a display control unit that displays a warning for the scene searched by the search unit after the allowable similarity is lowered by the search unit. The information processing apparatus described in 1.
(8)
The recording / playback control unit
Transmitting metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted to the other information processing apparatus;
Receiving from the other information processing apparatus a detection result indicating whether there is still another information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the selected content;
When the detection result is received that there is another information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the selected content, the metadata is recorded on the predetermined recording medium, and the deletion target Delete the content,
When the detection result is received that there is no further information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the selected content, the metadata is recorded on the predetermined recording medium, and the deletion target Performing compression encoding processing on the content, transmitting the compression encoded data obtained as a result to the other information processing apparatus, deleting the content to be deleted,
When reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the metadata is transmitted to the other information processing device,
When the compression encoded data is transmitted by the other information processing apparatus, the compression encoded data is received,
When the information processing device receives and transmits the same or similar content as the deleted content from the further information processing device, the content is received. (1) to (7) The information processing apparatus according to any one of the above.
(9)
The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (8), wherein the metadata is a feature amount of the content to be deleted.
(10)
The recording / playback control unit determines a predetermined criterion when the data capacity of the new content instructed to be recorded on the predetermined recording medium is larger than a predetermined amount based on the free capacity of the predetermined recording medium. The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein content that satisfies the condition is selected as the content to be deleted.
(11)
The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (10), wherein the predetermined determination criterion is a criterion that an access frequency by a user is low.
(12)
The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (12), wherein the predetermined determination criterion is a criterion that an operation content on a user's input device is an instruction to delete predetermined content.
(13)
When the first other information processing device deletes the content to be deleted, based on the metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted received from the first other information processing device, Detecting whether there is a second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the content to be deleted;
When there is the second other information processing device, the metadata of the content other than the information of the second other information processing device and the content to be deleted is the same as or similar to the content of the second other information processing device. Sending a detection result that there is an information processing device to the first other information processing device;
When there is no second other information processing apparatus, the detection result that there is no second other information processing apparatus is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus, and the content to be deleted is A metadata management unit that receives compressed encoded data that has been subjected to compression encoding processing from the first other information processing apparatus and records the compressed encoded data on a recording medium;
In the first other information processing apparatus, when the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the compression from the recording medium is performed based on the metadata received again from the first other information processing apparatus. Search the encoded data,
When there is the compressed encoded data, the compressed encoded data is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus,
An information processing apparatus comprising: a search unit that searches for the second other information processing apparatus having content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content when there is no compressed encoded data.
(14)
When the second other information processing device having the same or similar content as the deleted content is searched by the search unit, the second other information processing device is identical to the content or Inquiries as to whether or not similar content can be distributed to the first other information processing apparatus, and when the distribution result inquiry result is received from the second other information processing apparatus, the second other information processing apparatus The content management unit that reads the same or similar content as the content deleted from the information processing device and transmits the content to the first other information processing device. The information processing device according to (13).

  The present technology can be applied to a recording / reproducing apparatus connected to a network.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Content management system, 11 Recording / playback system for users, 12 Server, 21 Internet, 31 Recording / playback apparatus, 32 Display, 41 Content, 61 Network I / F part, 62 Tuner, 64 Recording processing part, 65 Image sound feature extraction part , 66 operation unit, 67 I / F unit, 68 memory, 69 disk drive, 71 recording medium, 72 playback control unit, 73 playback processing unit, 74 display processing unit, 75 system controller, 76 control bus, 77 data bus, 91 Network I / F unit, 92 management unit, 93 recording medium, 131 recording / playback control unit, 132 climax characteristic calculation unit, 133 display control unit, 191 metadata, 192 key frame, 231 recording / playback control unit, 232 Search unit, 233 display control unit, 291 feature quantity database, 321 feature quantity management unit, 322 content management unit, 333 search unit

Claims (18)

A recording / playback control unit that records content on a predetermined recording medium, reads the content from the predetermined recording medium, and plays back the content;
The recording / playback control unit
When deleting the content to be deleted recorded on the predetermined recording medium, information necessary for reproducing the deleted content is transmitted to another information processing apparatus and recorded.
An information processing apparatus that, when instructed to reproduce the deleted content, combines and deletes the deleted content based on information from the other information processing apparatus. The recording / playback control unit
The compression-encoded processing is performed on the content to be deleted, and the compression-encoded content obtained as a result is transmitted to the other information processing apparatus to be recorded,
The information according to claim 1, wherein when the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the content to be deleted recorded in the other information processing apparatus in the form of compression-encoded content is read, decompressed and decoded. Processing equipment. About the content to be deleted, further comprising a climax characteristic calculation unit that calculates a climax characteristic value indicating the degree of climax of the content in time series,
The recording / playback control unit performs the compression encoding process only for a section of the content to be deleted where the value of the climax characteristic calculated by the climax characteristic calculation unit is a predetermined threshold or less. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. A search unit for searching for content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content from a plurality of content recorded in the other information processing apparatus;
The recording / playback control unit
Recording metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted on the predetermined recording medium,
The search unit
Based on the metadata recorded on the predetermined recording medium by the recording / playback control unit, the same or similar to the deleted content from among a plurality of contents recorded in the other information processing apparatus Search for content
The recording / playback control unit
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein content that is the same as or similar to the content searched by the search unit is read from the other information processing apparatus and played back. The metadata is a feature amount for each of a plurality of scenes included in the content,
For each of the plurality of contents recorded in the other information processing apparatus, the search unit includes a scene having a feature quantity that is the same as or similar to the feature quantity for each of the plurality of scenes included in the deleted content. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the information is searched from scenes included in the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the search unit sets a similar range for the feature amount for each of a plurality of scenes included in the deleted content according to a preset allowable similarity. . The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a display control unit configured to display a warning for the scene searched for by the search unit after the allowable similarity is lowered by the search unit. The recording / playback control unit
Transmitting metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted to the other information processing apparatus;
Receiving from the other information processing apparatus a detection result indicating whether there is still another information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the selected content;
When the detection result is received that there is another information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the selected content, the metadata is recorded on the predetermined recording medium, and the deletion target Delete the content,
When the detection result is received that there is no further information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the selected content, the metadata is recorded on the predetermined recording medium, and the deletion target Performing compression encoding processing on the content, transmitting the compression encoded data obtained as a result to the other information processing apparatus, deleting the content to be deleted,
When reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the metadata is transmitted to the other information processing device,
When the compression encoded data is transmitted by the other information processing apparatus, the compression encoded data is received,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content is read from the other information processing apparatus and transmitted by the information processing apparatus, the content is received. . The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the metadata is a feature amount of the content to be deleted. The recording / playback control unit determines a predetermined criterion when the data capacity of the new content instructed to be recorded on the predetermined recording medium is larger than a predetermined amount based on the free capacity of the predetermined recording medium. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a content that satisfies is selected as the content to be deleted. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined determination criterion is a criterion that an access frequency by a user is low. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined determination criterion is a criterion that an operation content on a user's input device is an instruction to delete the predetermined content. Including a recording / playback control step of recording the content on a predetermined recording medium, reading the content from the predetermined recording medium, and playing back the content.
The process of the recording / playback control step includes:
When deleting the content to be deleted recorded on the predetermined recording medium, information necessary for reproducing the deleted content is transmitted to another information processing apparatus and recorded.
An information processing method for synthesizing and reproducing the deleted content based on information from the other information processing apparatus when an instruction to reproduce the deleted content is given. Recording the content on a predetermined recording medium, and reading and reproducing the content from the predetermined recording medium,
When deleting the content to be deleted recorded on the predetermined recording medium, information necessary for reproducing the deleted content is transmitted to another information processing apparatus and recorded.
A program for causing a computer to execute a control process for synthesizing and reproducing the deleted content based on information from the other information processing apparatus when an instruction to reproduce the deleted content is given. When the first other information processing device deletes the content to be deleted, based on the metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted received from the first other information processing device, Detecting whether there is a second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the content to be deleted;
When there is the second other information processing device, the metadata of the content other than the information of the second other information processing device and the content to be deleted is the same as or similar to the content of the second other information processing device. Sending a detection result that there is an information processing device to the first other information processing device;
When there is no second other information processing apparatus, the detection result that there is no second other information processing apparatus is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus, and the content to be deleted is A metadata management unit that receives compressed encoded data that has been subjected to compression encoding processing from the first other information processing apparatus and records the compressed encoded data on a recording medium;
In the first other information processing apparatus, when the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the compression from the recording medium is performed based on the metadata received again from the first other information processing apparatus. Search the encoded data,
When there is the compressed encoded data, the compressed encoded data is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus,
An information processing apparatus comprising: a search unit that searches for the second other information processing apparatus having content that is the same as or similar to the deleted content when there is no compressed encoded data. When the second other information processing device having the same or similar content as the deleted content is searched by the search unit, the second other information processing device is identical to the content or Inquiries as to whether or not similar content can be distributed to the first other information processing apparatus, and when the distribution result inquiry result is received from the second other information processing apparatus, the second other information processing apparatus The information processing device according to claim 15, further comprising: a content management unit that reads content that is the same as or similar to the content deleted from the information processing device and transmits the content to the first other information processing device. When the first other information processing device deletes the content to be deleted, based on the metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted received from the first other information processing device, Detecting whether there is a second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the content to be deleted;
When there is the second other information processing device, the metadata of the content other than the information of the second other information processing device and the content to be deleted is the same as or similar to the content of the second other information processing device. Sending a detection result that there is an information processing device to the first other information processing device;
When there is no second other information processing apparatus, the detection result that there is no second other information processing apparatus is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus, and the content to be deleted is A metadata management step of receiving compressed encoded data subjected to compression encoding processing from the first other information processing apparatus and recording it on a recording medium;
In the first other information processing apparatus, when the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the compression from the recording medium is performed based on the metadata received again from the first other information processing apparatus. Search the encoded data,
When there is the compressed encoded data, the compressed encoded data is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus,
A search step of searching for the second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the deleted content when there is no compressed encoded data. When the first other information processing device deletes the content to be deleted, based on the metadata that can identify the content of the content to be deleted received from the first other information processing device, Detecting whether there is a second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the content to be deleted;
When there is the second other information processing device, the metadata of the content other than the information of the second other information processing device and the content to be deleted is the same as or similar to the content of the second other information processing device. Sending a detection result that there is an information processing device to the first other information processing device;
When there is no second other information processing apparatus, the detection result that there is no second other information processing apparatus is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus, and the content to be deleted is The compressed encoded data subjected to the compression encoding process is received from the first other information processing apparatus and recorded on the recording medium,
In the first other information processing apparatus, when the reproduction of the deleted content is instructed, the compression from the recording medium is performed based on the metadata received again from the first other information processing apparatus. Search the encoded data,
When there is the compressed encoded data, the compressed encoded data is transmitted to the first other information processing apparatus,
A program for causing a computer to execute a control process including a step of searching for the second other information processing apparatus having the same or similar content as the deleted content when there is no compressed encoded data.

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